Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg bids to shut Twitter account

Twitter said accounts set up to impersonate with the intent of deceiving could be shut down

Conservative MP for North East Somerset Jacob Rees-Mogg is trying to shut a Twitter account set up in his name.

A spokeswoman for the MP said he had found the matter "quite tiresome", adding he wanted to make it quite clear he had no connection with the content.

Posting under the name JakeReesMogg, the user writes about subjects including cricket and politics.

On its website, Twitter says accounts with the "clear intent to confuse or mislead" can be closed down.

The MP's spokeswoman said that he had never had a Twitter account.

Some of the tweets on the "JakeReesMogg" account, which has 1,498 followers, appear to parody the Old Etonian MP.

'Don't upset Liverpool'

One reads: "Our 3 year old killed a pheasant this morning, leaving me with a terrible dilemma: What does one do with an out of season bird?"

Another tweet soon followed: "Probably worth pointing out that the three year old referred to in my previous tweet is a labrador and not a human being."

The imposter also offers words of wisdom to politicians using the microblogging site.

"My advice to any politician on twitter: Avoid unseemly spats, say nothing you may later regret and never upset the good people of Liverpool."

And a more recent tweet appeared to suggest the 41-year-old politician would face a fight in his bid to close the account: "Thank you all very much for your support. Just to reiterate this account stays defiantly open."

Under Twitter site guidelines users are allowed to create parody, commentary or fan accounts but any that impersonated in order to deceive were a violation of Twitter rules and could result in permanent account suspension.

A Twitter spokeswoman said the site did not comment on specific accounts.